"Lulu is a J-walker."
"Jeff stop spouting random facts about Lulu, we don't need to know her dirty secrets." Hoody glanced down the road for cars before they headed across it.
"That isn't a dirty secret, it's actually funny because she does it completely on purpose." Jeff said, glancing behind them like he was looking for followers. It was broad daylight, no one was going to follow a bunch of teenagers walking down the sidewalk, but he did it anyway. "She thinks the laws against J-walking are silly."
"There's a law because it's a safety hazard." Clockwork pointed out.
Jeff looked her dead in the eyes. "Do you honestly think Lulu cares about safety?"
It was hard to meet that bright gaze, especially when it never blinked. Clockwork shrugged. "I guess not."
"That trashcan hasn't always been there." Masky said suddenly.
"Shut up Masky." Hoody said casually.
"It hasn't always been there. Why did they add an extra trashcan, were people littering too much?" Masky continued, ignoring Hoody. "Maybe somebody moved it because there's a body in it." He stopped walking and stared at the inconspicuous green trashcan on the left side of the sidewalk. "What if there's a body in it?"
"This is why I don't go out in public with you." Hoody rolled his eyes. "You never take your mask off, and you're always evaluating everything like it's a crime scene."
"Maybe it is."
Jeff sighed. "Don't stop like that, we're wasting time."
"We have time, Jeff." Clockwork reassured. "We have all day."
"Lulu doesn't." He said coldly.
"Calm down, man," Hoody said, giving Jeff a concerned look. "You're freaking me out."
He looked less intimidating without his mask on, but Clockwork knew of the gun and the butterfly knife he always kept with him, and she knew he always kept the gun off safety.
They stopped an intersection and a greyhound bus zoomed past, startling a few crows that were pecking at a dead squirrel. The bus kind of surprised Clockwork; the city really wasn't big enough for public transportation other than a few yellow school buses. School had started a week ago, right with the first orangey leaves and cool breezes.
School. Clockwork sighed deeply. She would have been a Junior this year.
The walk sign came on and Hoody led the way across. He seemed to know exactly where he was at all times, and she wondered how often he visited the city. Maybe he just had the entire thing memorized; she wouldn't be surprised.
The more she was around the two proxies the more she realized how perfect of a team they were: Hoody always looked at the big picture, only narrowing it down when he needed to. He was exactly the kind of person who would memorize the pattern of the streets and the bus schedules, but he wouldn't care if one of the trashcans weren't where it should be.
Masky, however, payed more attention to detail. He would know how many trees lined each section of sidewalk, of the hole in a wire fence that surrounded a basketball court. He would see a patch of crushed flowers and a new trashcan and somehow come up with an entire murder scene that no one else would have even thought of.
It was because of this that Clockwork was still alive. Otherwise, she would have bled to death in that forest, and everyone would think that Helen had killed her.
Toby would think Helen had killed her, if Meta was right about them disliking each other. But Clockwork wasn't about to trust her.
The third proxy wasn't there, though. Slenderman hadn't wanted him to come. But the fewer people the better, and the only reason Clockwork was coming was because she really wanted to get away from Slenderman.
Look for a possibly dead friend or stay at home with a infuriatingly annoying creature in a suit.
Priorities.
"That light is burnt out." Masky said, breaking through Clockwork's thoughts.
Hoody turned to look at the street lamp Masky was gazing into. "It's not on, Masky. None of them are, it's 12 o'clock in the afternoon."
"It's burned out, I can see the filament against the glass."
"Oh." Hoody bit his lip. "This isn't important."
Masky sighed. "Sorry."
"I think you might have a minor case of ADD." Hoody said, turning back around and continuing down the sidewalk. They were getting into the more sketchy part of the city, with weeds poking through the cracks in the sidewalk and abandoned houses seemingly more common than populated ones. A few shady figures watched them pass, but kept their distance.
"If I had a nickel for every time you said that." Masky muttered.
"You'd have 10 cents, congratulations."
"It's at least 15."
"You're pushing it."
"What's the one where I said I'd have a whole dollar?"
"I think it was shut up, Masky. If not, it should be."
Jeff and Clockwork looked at each other and rolled their eyes in synch. Masky and Hoody would go off on random conversations like this on a regular basis, most of which involved inside jokes that no one else understood and references to past events that no one understood, either. It was very confusing to listen to, the way they'd go back and forth from topic to topic and just scratch the surface before they moved on.
They'd already dropped the nickel idea and sped off on some other train of thought that Clockwork had extreme difficulty following.
"The weather is very nice." Clockwork said emotionlessly, trying to make it less awkward.
He sighed and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, sinking farther into his hoodie. "It's mocking my pain."
"You're really scared, aren't you?" Clockwork asked softly. He smiled faintly.
"Maybe a little." He didn't meet her eyes.
They walked in silence for a while (so much for less awkwardness), and listened to Masky and Hoody go on. Masky kept randomly pointing out irregularities in the walkway and other such random things that were probably useless.
"So Lulu is like your sister?" Clockwork finally asked, trying once again to lighten the atmosphere. Jeff shrugged.
"It's complicated." That faint smile came back. "I treat her like a little sister though, yes."
"How long have you known each other?"
He looked up at a hawk circling the sky. "Well if she's 14 now -"
"She's only 14?" Clockwork's eyes widened.
"Yeah." He said, like this was well known. "I've known her since she was like, nine." He added.
"Five years."
"Five years..." He repeated. Suddenly he got really quiet.
"We'll find her." Clockwork told him. He didn't respond.
Whether or not we'll find her alive, though...
She looked away and listened to Masky and Hoody again. She wondered how they kept their cool so easily, with all the crazy things that had happened so far.
She could only imagine how many emotions they kept pent up inside of them to keep that image.
But no matter how tightly sealed a jar is, you can always break it to get what's inside.
"Romeo, Romeo." Masky muttered under his breath, after at least an hour of complete silence. He stepped over a thick root that had snaked over the sidewalk.
What was left of the sidewalk, that is. They'd left the city behind, and the pathway was reduced to scattered pieces of cement that were choked with weeds and roots. All of the houses were abandoned here - if there were any houses at all - it was mostly dark, damp forest. With all the trees blocking the light, it felt like it was later than it really was.
"Wherefore art thou Romeo?" Hoody answered. He pulled his mask back over his face and his hood back on.
"Deny thy father and refuse thy name;" Masky glanced back like he was making sure Clockwork and Jeff were still there. Clockwork self consciously put the hood of her jacket up, even if she wasn't cold. It made her feel safer, for some reason.
"Or, if thou wilt not, but be sworn my love,"
"And I'll no longer be a Capulet."
It was eerie enough that they remembered the lines of Shakespeare so well, but they never even raised their voices. They spoke softly, like they didn't want to disturb anyone, their voices fading into the thick underbrush and tightly grouped trees.
It was like an art form, how flawlessly they did it, and Clockwork once again was impressed by the connection they seemed to share.
"Al final." Hoody muttered. "We have arrived."
Clockwork blinked.
The arcade seemed to rise out of nowhere, broken windows gaping like empty eye sockets, vines snaking through the cracks and holes in the walls. It was a squat, one story building made of brick, even if most of the reddish blocks were scattered on the ground rather than supporting the actual structure. It must have been brightly colored once, but now the paint was peeling and decaying, so it was an ugly mixture of nasty yellow, faded blue, and rust red
They all stared at it in a sort of trance for what seemed like forever.
Hoody took a deep breath and was the first to step forward. "Well, I don't think abandoned arcades are frightened by being stared at."
Masky followed him. "Only certain people are frightened by that."
"You would know."
"I would know."
Clockwork forced herself forward as well, but Jeff lingered behind. She turned and waited for him.
"You coming?"
He studied a few shards of glass on the ground and didn't answer.
Was he afraid? Clockwork wouldn't think Jeff to be afraid of anything.
Then he took a deep breath and looked up, but still didn't meet her eyes. "Yeah ." He focused on the abandoned building behind her. "Yeah, I'm coming."
She stepped into the drafty place and was instantly halted by Hoody's arm.
"Don't scream." He said softly.
At first she didn't understand, but then she saw the scene before her and she realized that screaming was exactly what she wanted to do right now.
It was horrible.
Lulu's eyes were glazed over, once so bright and focused, now resembling the button eyes of the stuffed animals that watched from the shadows. Cables from the ceiling had somehow gone through her, one from either shoulder and then curling back around and going through her torso. They lay limp and lifeless, but there was no possible way any human could have forced them through her; not without her putting up a fight.
Clockwork felt a presence on her right and jumped, but then she heard a strangled gasp and her stomach dropped.
Like a little sister. He had said.
"Gods..." Jeff stumbled towards Lulu and stood over her, his breathing getting extremely shaky. Something sparkly fell from his face.
"Gods..." He said again, collapsing into his knees like he couldn't hold himself up anymore. "Of all the things to do to her..."
Hoody's hand rested on Clockwork's shoulder. "Give him some time." He murmured. He slipped away and out of the arcade. Clockwork stayed behind, think.
Jeff picked Lulu up with a bit of difficulty, the cables weighing her down. He pulled her into his arms and buried his head in her chest.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"I'm so sorry..."
~~~
They stayed outside, far away from the arcade, for what seemed like hours. No one spoke.
Masky was pacing, back and forth between two huge trees, muttering to himself. He kept having to step over a dead branch each time, and Clockwork was secretly waiting for him to trip over it.
Hoody stood straight as a statue, gazing out into the woods with his back to everyone else. It was creepy, the way he stood there so silently, exactly like Slenderman would have. Clockwork edged up next to him and followed his gaze.
She shoved her hands into her pockets and stared at the ground. She felt unwelcome here; she had never truly known Lulu. Clockwork couldn't relate to loss. The only people that had died in her life she had killed.
Hoody sighed, breaking a heavy silence.
"Now what?" She murmured.
He shrugged. "Probably a revenge quest."
Revenge.
That was something Clockwork could relate to.
"So you think Jeff's going to go looking for whoever did it?"
"He might." Hoody shrugged again and kicked a prebble into the damp woods. "I will."
"How?"
"I have my ways." He said darkly.
Suddenly Masky yelped loudly and Clockwork whipped around. She couldn't even laugh, though, when she noticed he finally had tripped over that branch.
Hoody sighed. "Do you want to go get him?"
Her heart sank when she realized what he meant.
"No." She muttered. She'd known they couldn't stay there forever, but she really didn't want to face Jeff and tell him that. She wondered if they'd have to carry Lulu all the way back, and what the general public would think if they paraded down the street with two wanted serial killers, two masked men, and a dead, 14-year-old girl.
Hoody nudged her. "Come on."
"Guess I'm coming regardless." She muttered, following him back towards the broken building.
Jeff wasn't in the arcade anymore, he was sitting against the door frame, eyes slightly glazed over and not focused on anything. Was in his arms, her eyes closed now, and Clockwork could almost ignore the bloody holes in her shoulders and pretend she was sleeping.
How much time had he spent, carefully working those cables out of her, Clockwork didn't know.
"Hey," Hoody said softly. Jeff's eyes didn't refocuse.
"Hi."
"We should go."
Jeff sighed slowly. "I can't just... leave her here..."
Masky slipped past them and vanished into the arcade. Jeff took no notice of him.
"Can you carry her all the way back?" Hoody's voice stayed gentler than Clockwork would think he was capable of.
With the straight way he stood and his hands in his hoodie's pockets, he looked very calm. But from the angle Clockwork was at, she could see his hand, twisting his butterfly knife around and around inside his pocket. Maybe he wore the mask to keep them from knowing how nervous he really was.
"Probably not." Jeff's voice sounded like more air than voice. His muscles slackened.
"I'll carry her." Hoody offered. Clockwork raised an eyebrow.
Jeff finally refocused and studied Hoody carefully. Clockwork couldn't read the emotion in his sky blue eyes.
Masky materialized from the shadows without a sound and nodded his head at Hoody.
Hoody startled Clockwork when he moved. He crouched down next to Jeff and sighed. "Think you'll be okay?"
Jeff shrugged listlessly, his eyes drifting out of focus again. "Sure." He said, a little too lightly. "I'll be fine."
Hoody pulled himself up again and Jeff reluctantly stood as well. For a second he pulled Lulu closer to him and held her, his gaze just a blank stare. Then he gave her to Hoody - who carried her like she weighed nothing - and shoved his hands into his pockets, his hair shadowing his face again.
"Let's go." Hoody said softly, stepping back towards the path. Masky followed him, still dead silent, and suddenly Clockwork was alone with Jeff.
"I'm sorry." She told him, knowing full well how empty the words sounded but not knowing what else to say. He shrugged again, half walking, half stumbling after the others.
"What's one more life lost?" He whispered.